Holy Cow!

Another episode in the tale of religious stupidity.

A calf with a white marking on its forehead in the approximate shape of a cross was born last week at a dairy farm in Sterling, a small rustic town on the Rhode Island border. Owner Brad Davis told WFSB-TV he thinks the marking may be a message from above, though he's still trying to figure out what that message might be.

Yeah folks, there you have it, a literal Holy Cow. With the Jesus appearing on the iron and now a holy cow, something big must be in the works. Perhaps we are about to witness the second coming of Jesus -much to the chagrin of us, the disbelievers.

Iron Jesus -the religious stupidity marches on

I was browsing through the day's news and couldn't resist to click on the news headline: "Methuen woman says she found image of Jesus on iron"

Just when I think that I have seen all that is ridiculous about religion, I keep running into stories like this.

The woman in this story goes on to say that:

"It just gave me a sign that life is going to be good," Coady said. "I think he's listening."

If this is not an insult to human intelligence than I don't know what is. Where does one even begin to reason with this woman? Maybe this is a fair warning to all us non believers that this latest appearance of Jesus on an iron is a bellwether of his second coming.

I am waiting.

What would Jesus use?

Yesterday while watching football on Tivo and fast forwarding, I for a gazillion times saw an ad where some alien objects were falling from the sky like an steroid. Then the commercial shows a guy hovering over the fallen object and in the midst of dust and smoke, h he asks the questions 'What the heck is this thing?' ... or something to that effect. It turns out that the commercial was for the new Google Verizon phone 'Droid'.

And out of nowhere, my thoughts wandered. I started thinking about people who believe in the second coming of Jesus (Muslims, Christians). But the question that tickled my fancy after watching the Droid commercial was, "What would Jesus use as his phone on his second coming?"

Would Jesus use an iPhone, Blackberry or Droid? What would he be wearing on his second coming? Jeans, Khakis or Chinos? What brand would he be sporting? Gap, Calvin Klein or Armani? I couldn't help but notice this cheesy smile on my face as I pondered through the possibilities. Where would he land on his second coming? Jerusalem or LA? LA sound so much appropriate -Isn't LA after all a city of angels? What other place could be more apt for a prohphet to make a second landing? How would Jesus announce his coming? Last night outside Safeway I saw this guy in garb and sandals begging for money. It was obvious that he hadn't showered or shaved in days. I really thought he was Jesus until I noticed his long blonde dreadlocks. But then who knows, to mix will with the current population, Jesus may sport a blonde hairdo and flash his fancy Droid phone. Would he be texting kind of a dude too? What language would he text into? Does the smart phones have Armaic or Hebrew support? If not, they better get on to the new feature development. I am already thinking of writing to Steve Jobs to get his Apples in order for the second coming of Jesus.

Religion strikes again

Religion strikes again -well almost, until the King issued a pardon. No, this is not a mideval story, rather something that just happened today in stone aged Saudia Arabia.

The story goes that a female Saudi journalist was sentenced to 60 lashes for her role in some TV programming and the program material was deemed as sexual in nature. As we all know that God hates sex, the Saudi courts convicted the female journalist and sentenced her to 60 lashes. This news covered by Reuters and other news outlets. I just learned today, that now the Saudi King has pardoned the journalist. As Reuters reported, 'The flogging has been dropped'.

This is yet another ridiculous saga in long standing history of religious stupidity. Where does one even begin to comprehend this bullshit?

From Agnosticism to Atheism

Today it was one of those mornings when while driving I didn't want to listen to news, pod casts or music. It was drizzling and made up for a perfect moment to look back in time and contemplate.

I started thinking about how long it took me from the point of agnosticism to reach the point of atheism. There was a point in my life when I finally :stopped caring: as to what God will or will not do if I act in a certain way. This was the time in my life when I came to full realization that morality does not come from God or religion. Not 'caring' about what God thinks, does not mean that I started stealing or lying (more than usual :)).

Several years gone by in this agnostic state. Then there came a time that I couldn't even recall when was the last time I attended prayer in a mosque -which by the way even when I did pray or attended mosque was forced upon by family and circumstances.

It has been only in the last two or three years that I eventually came to the conclusion that I am no longer an agnostic but rather an atheist. It is no longer enough for me to merely 'ignore' God's existence but I am at a point where I am actively engaged in a dialogue with people about non-existence of God.

All I can say that my consciousness has risen. It is hard to explain in words the feeling one get when unrestricted from thoughts of God and religion.

The Punishment of the Apostate according to Islamic Law

I am always on the lookout for original texts from Islamic scholars on the issue of Apostasy in Islam. Today I happened to come across a book by very famous and influential Pakistani Islamic scholar, (late) Maududi. He was also the founder of Pakistan's influential political party
Jama't -e-Islami.

His book on the subject of Apostasy was originally published in Urdu language as "Murtadd ki Saza Islami Qanun men", which in English translates to "The Punishment of the Apostate according to Islamic Law".

Here is the first paragraph from this book.

To everyone acquainted with Islamic law it is no secret that according to Islam the punishment for a Muslim who turns to kufr (infidelity, blasphemy) is execution. Doubt about this matter first arose among Muslims during the final portion of the nineteenth century as a result of speculation. Otherwise, for the full twelve centuries prior to that time the total Muslim community remained unanimous about it. The whole of our religious literature clearly testifies that ambiguity about the matter of the apostate's execution never existed among Muslims. The expositions of the Prophet, the Rightly-Guided Caliphs (Khulafa'-i Rashidun), the great Companions (Sahaba) of the Prophet, their Followers (Tabi'un), the leaders among the mujtahids and, following them, the doctors of the shari'ah of every century are available on record. All these collectively will assure you that from the time of the Prophet to the present day one injunction only has been continuously and uninterruptedly operative and that no room whatever remains to suggest that perhaps the punishment of the apostate is not execution.


He then goes on presenting the proof from Quran and Hadith as follows:


"Here I wish briefly to offer proof that will quiet the doubt in the hearts of those who, for lack of sources of information, may think that perhaps the punishment of death did not exist in Islam but was added at a later time by the "mawlawis" (religious leaders) on their own.

God Most High declares in the Qur'an:

But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then are they your brethren in religion. We detail our revelations for a people who have knowledge. And if they break their pledges after their treaty (hath been made with you) and assail your religion, then fight the heads of disbelief -- Lo! they have no binding oaths in order that they may desist. (9:11,12)[1]


After the Qur'an we turn to the Hadith. This is the command of the Prophet:

1. Any person (i.e., Muslim) who has changed his religion, kill him.[3]"

So, as you can see that when I started this blog, I made a point that I am really scared of the consequences of my act of Apostasy. This is no joke. It still comes as a shock to my non Muslims friends when I tell them that my act of Apostasy could end up in my being killed.

I have not even yet talked about the fear of extra judicial killing. If the state of Pakistan does not kill me, it does not mean that a mob would not. Extra judicial killings are too common in Pakistan. You may have heard of 'Honor killings' where a husband/father/brother is justified in killing his wife/daughter/sister if he is in any way suspicious of her.

Religion strikes again

"I am guilty of trusting my Lord's wisdom completely. ... Guilty of asking for heavenly intervention. Guilty of following Jesus Christ when the whole world does not understand. Guilty of obeying my God,"


These are the words of the father who along with his wife who prayed rather than seek medical care for their 11-year-old dying daughter. Both were sentenced to 6 months in jail and 10 years probation in the girl's death.


Can you imagine if the parents were not Christians but let's say 'non believers'? Would they have gotten away with only six months of jail time or would they be looking at manslaughter second degree murder charges?

Adam, Eve, Ardi -take your pick

According to Quran which Muslims take as literal word of God:

"Behold thy Lord said to the angels: I will create a vicegerent on earth. They said Wilt thou place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood? Whilst we do celebrate Thy praises and glorify Thy holy (name)? He said: I know what ye know not."

And He taught Adam the nature of all things; then He placed them before the angels and said: Tell Me the nature of these if ye are right.

They said: Glory to Thee of knowledge we have none save that Thou hast taught us: in truth it is Thou who art perfect in knowledge and wisdom.

He said: O Adam! tell them their natures. When he had told them Allah said: Did I not tell you that I know the secrets of heaven and earth and I know what ye reveal and what ye conceal?

And behold We said to the angels: Bow down to Adam; and they bowed down not so Iblis (satan). He refused and was haughty he was of those who reject Faith.

We said: O Adam! dwell thou and thy wife in the garden and eat of the bountiful things therein as (where and when) ye will but approach not this tree or ye run into harm and transgression.
(Qur'an: Translation of the meaning, 2:30-35)

And God said, to the Angels:

“And (remember) when your Lord said to the angels: ‘I am going to create a human (Adam) from sounding clay of altered black smooth mud. So when I have fashioned him and breathed into him (his) soul created by Me, then you fall down prostrate to him.” (Quran 38:71-72)

Then the story continues with creation of Eve:

“And God said: ‘O Mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person (Adam) and from Him (Adam) He created his wife (Eve), and from them both He created many men and women.’” (Quran 4:1)

And then last week I read the news about a gal named 'Ardi'

Oh yeah, she happened to hang around on earth 4.4 Million years ago.

The Ardipithecus ramidus fossils were discovered in Ethiopia's harsh Afar desert at a site called Aramis in the Middle Awash region, just 46 miles (74 kilometers) from where Lucy's species,

Australopithecus afarensis, was found in 1974. Radiometric dating of two layers of volcanic ash that tightly sandwiched the fossil deposits revealed that Ardi lived 4.4 million years ago.

Source:http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091001-oldest-human-skeleton-ardi-missing-link-chimps-ardipithecus-ramidus.html

So, whom should I believe? Quran's version of Eve or what 4.4 million years old Ardi's fossils?

On 'Age of Reason' by Thomas Paine

I just finished reading Thomas Paine's 'Age of Reason'. Thomas Paine was a great American patriot and one of the founding fathers. I read portion of the book on Google books. Here is an excerpt from the book where Paine is talking about the myth of Adam and Eve (which as you know is common in Islam, Judaism and Christianity.

Also if you didn't notice, Obama's inaugural speech had several quotes from Paine's writings.

Report from 'Pew Global Attitudes Project'

In August 2009, Pew Global Attitudes Project published a report on Pakistan, titled:

Pakistani Public Opinion
GROWING CONCERNS ABOUT EXTREMISM, CONTINUING DISCONTENT
WITH U.S.

You can view the full report at: http://pewglobal.org/reports/pdf/265.pdf

But here is the section of the report on Pakistani public opinion on capital punishment including Apostasy.

"One of the ironies in the survey is the extent to which Pakistanis embrace some of the severe laws associated with the Taliban and al Qaeda, even as they reject Islamic extremism and these extremist groups. The new poll finds broad support for harsh punishments: 78% favor death for those who leave Islam; 80% favor whippings and cutting off hands for crimes like theft and robbery; and 83% favor stoning adulterers."

Pakistan's Apostasy Law -death penalty

[TO BE INTRODUCED IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY]

A BILL

to make a law for the Apostasy

WHEREAS it is expedient to make a law for the Apostasy and for the purposes hereinafter appearing;

It is hereby enacted as follows:-

1.Short title, extent and Commencement:-(1) This Act may be called the Apostasy Act, 2006.

	(2)	It extends to the whole of Pakistan.
	(3)	It shall come into force at once.

2.Definitions:- In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context:-

	(a)	“Apostasy” means backing out of any Muslim from Islam including requisites of Deen which also embody the finality of prophet hood of Hazrat Muhammad (S.A.W.);
	(b)	“Apostate” means any such person who commits apostasy; and
	(c)	“Penitence” means that the apostate makes a return from apostasy and turns to Deen-e-Islam.

3.The condition of commission of apostasy:- It is necessary for the commissioning of the offence of apostasy that the offender of it be:-

	(a)	an adult;
	(b)	an sane;
	(c)	have willingly caused a commission of apostasy.

Explanation:-

“An adult means a person who has attained the age of eighteen years in case of male and sixteen years in case of female or physically has reached to the limit of maturity or whatever thing amongst these two things occurs first.

4.Proof of apostasy:- The offence of apostasy shall be proved in any one way of following:-

	(a)	The accused personally may confess before the competent court that he has nwdc a commission of the offence of apostasy; or
	(b)	At least two adult male witnesses about whom the court is satisfied in regard of evidence of purification that they are just ones and they give evidence of this thing that the accused has made a commission of apostasy.
	(c)	have willingly caused a commission of apostasy.

Explanation No.1:-	Evidence of purification means that methodology through which the court gets information about any witness that whether he is just or unjust.
Explanation No.2:-	“Just” means such a Muslim who is known for observing religious obligations and duties and refraining himself from major sins.

5.Asking Penitence from apostate:- (1) When under the requirement of section 4, the proof of offence of apostasy is made available, the court shall ask the apostate to make penitence from apostasy; If the accused does not immediately make penitence, the court shall give him a period of threodays or suchperiod as the court may deem fit for considering and thinking over it but this period shallinot exceed one month. During this period, the accused shall be put in prison and shall be asked to make a return to Islam in accordance with rules.

(2) If the apostate tenders penitence immediately after getting penitence offer or within the prescribed period under sub-section (1), his penitence shall be accepted and he shall be exonerated but if he shows insistence on his apostasy while rejecting the penitence offer, he shall be punished under section (7).

6.The repetition of offence of apostasy:- If any person after making penitence for the first offence of apostasy and one account of it getting pardon commits again the offence of apostasy, the provisions of section (5) with due modifications shall be applied to him.

Provided that any person who commits the offence of apostasy for the second time or third time, he shall be punished with rigorous or simple punishment which may extend to two years. Provided further that if any person who commits the offence of apostasy for the fourth time, he shall be punishable to the sentence prescribed in section (7).

7.Punishment for apostasy:- (1) If a male person makes the commission of apostasy offence, he shall be awarded death sentence.

Provided that if the apostate tenders penitence before issuance or at the time of death sentence or agrees to tender penitence, he shall be immediately produced before the court for further orders.

(2)If the female person makes the commission of apostasy offence, she shall be put in prison till she tenders her penitence.

8.The property of the apostate:- (1) On proposing legal action against any apostate on the ground Of apostasy, the court Shall suspend all his rights over his property including his right of possession.

	(2)	All his property rights shall stand restored in case of being acquitted by the court on the ground of tendering penitence by the apostate.
	(3)	Whereas any person was given death sentence in the commission of apostasy offence, his property acquired before’ the commission of offence shall be transferred to his Muslim heirs and the property acquired after the commission of offence shall be forfeited in favour of the Government.
	(4)	All the rights of property owned by the female apostate shall remain suspended till her death or penitence from the offence. Her property shall stand transferred to her Muslim heirs in case of her death in the state of apostasy and the property acquired after the commission of the offence shall be forfeited in favour of the Government and in case of penitence from apostasy, her all property rights shall stand restored and it shall be deemed that these rights are perennially vested with her.

9.The right of guardianship of the children of apostate and of the custody of their property:- The right of the apostate relating to the matter of guardianship over minor children and property or right of Hizanat of the female apostate shall remain suspended till the death or penitence of the male apostate or female apostate and the court shall exercise the power to appoint a guardian for the guardianship for minor children of male apostate or female apostate and of their property and who shall be responsible for the management and arrangement of the property of minor or minors and in case of tendering penitence or getting acquittal from the court, the rights of the apostate shall stand restored.

Provided that a breast feeding infant shall be allowed to remain in the Hizanat of the female apostate.

10Iddat:- The commencement of iddat shall start from that date on which the apostasy offence of the apostate is finally proved.

	(2)	The iddat of the female apostate shall be four months and ten days or till delivery in case of being pregnant.
	(3)	The marriage of the female apostate shall stand intact in case of tendering penitence during her iddat but tendering penitence after iddat, her re-marriage with her husband shall be legalized.

11.Act to over-ride all other laws:- The provisions of this Act shall over ride all other laws for the time being in force.

STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS

Whereas that the supreme authority vests in almighty Allah. The injunctions revealed by Him which are enshrined in the Holy Quran and Sunnah have been practically enforced by the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) during his life. These injunctions of the Supreme Sovereign arc still in force. The powers for the suspension of these injunctions are not vested with anybody except Allah. The injunctions of the Holy Quran and Sunnah which are not being practically in force tantamount to that those who have put these ones in abeyance and are violators or sinners. Therefore it is obligatory on the House to revive these injunctions of the Holy Quran and Sunnah through legislation which arc in abeyance and save itself from any sort of offence of violation or sin.

(2) The one injunction of the injunctions awards death sentence to an apostate and the detail of this is given in this Bill. The saying of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) is that he who leaves Islam and converts into another must be killed. The Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) himself enforced it and this law remained in force during Khilafat-e-Rashida and remained intact till British imperialism. The imperialists abrogated it during their rule. Now, when Pakistan came into being in the name of Islam, there is no justification of keeping in force this decision of imperialism. It is also protect required to the state religion of Pakistan and the Muslim faith. Therefore, it is, imperative to introduce this bill in the House to achieve the above said objectives and enforce it immediately after its approval.

Sd/-
Mr. Liaqat Bloch	Qazi Hussain Ahmed
Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman	Maulana Abdul Malik
Mr. Shabir Ahmed Khan	Mian Muhammad Aslam
Mr. Muhammad Usman Advocate	Dr. Farid Ahmed Piracha
Mr. Fazle Subhan	Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri
Maulana Amanullah Khan	Hafiz Hussain Ahmed
Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali	Maulana Syed Nasib Ali Shah
Maulana Ghulam Muhammad Sadiq	Dr. Ata-ur-Rehman
Maulana Abdul Malik Wazir	Dr. Sahibzada Abdul Khair Muhammad Zubair
Mr. Asadullah Bhutto	Mr. Muhammad Hussain Mehanti
Qari Fayyaz-ur-Rchman Alvi	Mr. Sabir Hussain Awan
Maulana Asadullah	Maulana Ahmed Ghafoor
Mrs. Samia Rahcel Qazi	Mrs. Inayat Begum
Qari Muhammad Yousuf	Mrs. Shahida Akhtar Ali
Mr. Bakhtiar Maani	Mrs. Aisha Munawar
Dr. Firida Ahmed Siddiqui	Mr. Muhammad Laeeque Khan

Islam and Apostasy

Non Muslims or people from other (non)religious backgrounds may wonder why I am making a big deal out of the fact that I do not believe in any God or religion. When it comes to Islam and certain Islamic nations, Apostasy is a very big deal. It has life and death consequences. If you just Wiki 'Apostasy', you can find that out for yourself.

As many of you may be familiar with 'Hadith' which is basically the sayings of (Prophet) Mohammad. There are several Hadiths on the subject of Apostasy. Here are some:

1. Kill whoever changes his religion. Sahih al-Bukhari 9:84:57
2. The blood of a Muslim who confesses that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that I am His Apostle, cannot be shed except in three cases: In Qisas for murder, a married person who commits illegal sexual intercourse and the one who reverts from Islam (apostate) and leaves the Muslims. Sahih al-Bukhari 9:83:17

Wikipedia also quotes a Fatwa on Apostasy.

"If a sane person who has reached puberty voluntarily apostatizes from Islam, he deserves to be punished.‏ In such a case, it is obligatory for the caliph (or his representative) to ask him to repent and return to Islam. If he does, it is accepted from him, but if he refuses, he is immediately killed." No one besides the caliph or his representative may kill the apostate. If someone else kills him, the killer is disciplined (for arrogating the caliph's prerogative and encroaching upon his rights, as this is one of his duties)."

This is just a tip of the ice berg. In my future posts, I will give information on Apostasy laws back in my home country. But as you can see from the above that Apostasy in Islam is not a benign matter -it is really a matter of life and death.

The Coming out ...

I am an Apostate. I am thirty something male living in San Francisco bay area. I grew up in an Islamic family, so by default I was brought up as a Muslim. I was forced to practice religion until I left my home country and started living in US. I never accepted Islam as my religion and was mostly 'agnostic' towards religion in general. It is only in last few years that I have come to the conclusion that I am an Atheist i.e. I do not believe in any God (Allah etc). I came to this conclusion using my common sense and after years of studying science, philosophy and evolutionary biology. I do not believe in any prophets (be it Mohammad, Abraham or Moses) and I do not believe in Koran being word of God since I reject all Gods.

This is my blog to put my thoughts in writing and come to terms with a realization that if I go back to my home country, I face death penalty for the crime of Apostasy.